Holiday rental
Holiday rental in Mallorca: the licence and the tax, handled together
Letting to tourists in Mallorca sits on two layers: the regional licence, known as ETV, and the Spanish tax on the income. Most problems come from treating them separately. We verify the licence before you buy, keep the registrations in order and file the rental income every year.
Is this you?
- You are buying a house in Mallorca that is advertised with a tourist licence and want to know whether the licence is real, valid and transferable.
- You already let a licensed property and need the yearly filings done and your listings in order.
- You have received a notice from the tourism inspectorate.
What Spanish law requires
Tourist letting in the islands is governed by Ley 8/2012 on tourism in the Balearic Islands, as amended. The activity rests on a responsible declaration filed with the Consell de Mallorca, registration in the island register and the holding of tourist places for the dwelling. The property must lie in an eligible zone. In the municipality of Palma, tourist letting of flats in multi-family buildings is prohibited.
New licences are scarce. The acquisition of tourist places was suspended by Decreto ley 3/2022 and Ley 3/2022. Since April 2025, Decreto ley 4/2025 provides a temporary pool that hands out again, one for one, the places of dwellings that leave the register, so the island total does not grow. The Consell de Mallorca offered 1,069 such places in March 2026 and settled the order of the applications by public draw in June. The pool does not reach flats: the same decree admits no new declarations for dwellings in buildings under horizontal ownership, other than terraced and semi-detached houses. Any offer to arrange a new licence should be tested against this before anything is paid.
For most buyers the workable route is still to buy a property that already holds one. The licence attaches to the dwelling, not to the owner, and the buyer continues the activity by notifying the change of ownership to the Consell, provided the registration is in force and no enforcement file is open.
From July 2025 the State also required a national registration number for every short-term let. In judgment 620/2026 of May 2026 the Tribunal Supremo annulled that national register, holding that the State lacks competence to create it. What remains is the regional ETV registration, which is the number your listing must show, and the duty of platforms to report letting data to the authorities under Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 through the Digital Single Window for Rentals.
Marketing tourist stays without the declaration is a very serious infringement. Decreto ley 4/2025 of 11 April raised the fines: up to 500,000 euros for very serious infringements, up to 50,000 euros for serious ones, such as advertising without the ETV registration number, exceeding the places or failing guest registration duties, and up to 5,000 euros for minor ones. The same decree bars the creation of new tourist places in multi-family buildings throughout the Balearic Islands.
The income is declared on Tax Form 210. From the 2026 reform, rental income with tax due is filed once a year, between 1 and 20 April of the following year. Residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein deduct expenses; for everyone else the tax office assesses gross income, a position the Audiencia Nacional rejected in July 2025 in a judgment now under appeal before the Tribunal Supremo. The tourist stay tax collected from guests has its own accounting.
What we do
- Verification of the licence before purchase, with access to the administrative file: registration, places, form, eligible zone and open proceedings, with a written report.
- Warranty clauses in the deposit contract and the deed, so that the validity of the licence is an essential condition of the sale.
- Notification of the change of ownership to the Consell de Mallorca and, for flats in horizontal ownership, renewal of the registration.
- Bringing your listings into line: the ETV number on every advert and the data that platforms report to the authorities.
- Annual filing of the rental income on Tax Form 210, with the deductible expenses schedule completed where you are entitled to it, and the tourist stay tax returns.
- Defence in enforcement proceedings and appeals before the authorities and the courts.
What we need from you
Send these by email; for sensitive documents we arrange a secure transfer after the first call. We tell you exactly what is missing.
- For a purchase: the listing, the seller's licence number and the cadastral reference.
- For an existing let: the ETV registration and the platform statements for the year.
- Invoices for cleaning, management, utilities, insurance, community charges and repairs.
- The NIE of each owner and a certificate of tax residence.
- Any notice received from the tourism inspectorate, with the date it was served.
Deadlines
| Window | Filing | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 20 Apr | Tax Form 210, annual rental return | Rental income of the previous year: all of 2026 if grouped in one return, or October to December 2026 if the quarters were filed separately |
| Within days of a notice | Submissions to the tourism inspectorate | The period for submissions is short; act on the first notice |
Frequently asked questions
Can I obtain a new tourist licence for my house in Mallorca?
Only through the temporary pool of places, and not for a flat. Since 2025 the places of dwellings that leave the register are offered again in calls run by the Consell de Mallorca. The March 2026 call offered 1,069 places for the whole island and was settled by public draw. Calls are occasional and the outcome is uncertain, so for most buyers the realistic route is a property that is already registered.
If I buy a licensed property, do I keep the licence?
Yes, provided the registration is in force and free of proceedings, and the change of ownership is notified to the Consell de Mallorca. For flats in horizontal ownership, the expiry date of the registration and the absence of a contrary resolution by the community of owners should also be checked.
Do I still need the national registration number?
No. The Tribunal Supremo annulled the national register of short-term lets in May 2026. The ETV registration is still required and is the number your listing must show, and platforms still report letting data to the authorities.
How is the rental income taxed?
On Tax Form 210, once a year from the 2026 reform. Residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein pay 19% on net income after expenses. Everyone else pays 24%, and the tax office applies it to gross income, although a 2025 judgment of the Audiencia Nacional, now under appeal before the Tribunal Supremo, allows the deduction of expenses.
Sources: Ley 8/2012 on tourism in the Balearic Islands; Decreto ley 3/2022; Ley 3/2022; Decreto ley 4/2025 of 11 April; Tribunal Supremo, judgment 620/2026 annulling the national register of Real Decreto 1312/2024; Regulation (EU) 2024/1028; Orden HAC/623/2026.
This page is general information and reflects the rules in force on the date shown. It is not advice and does not replace an assessment of your own case. Last reviewed: 24 September 2026.
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